1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to sugar cane harvesters.
2. Description of the Prior Art
By the time the sugar cane crop is ready for harvesting, the ground at the base of the crop is covered by loose trash consisting of dead leaves, and the cane stalk has further dead and green leaves attached to it. Also, a group of long top leaves sprout from the immature tip of the cane stalk.
The harvesting of sugar cane involves cutting the crop as close as possible to ground level, removing the leaves attached along the length of each cane, separating the cane stalks from the leaves, loose trash, soil and rocks or stones, and also separating the leafy top together with the immature section, often known as the coot, from the mature part of the cane stalk. The requirements are the same even when the crop has been burnt before harvesting to reduce the volume of unwanted material.
The object of the present invention is to provide a sugar cane harvester in which the cane is cut at ground level, and the green leaf top and coot severed from the stalk, with the unwanted material separated from the cane being deposited on the ground and with the cleaned canes being accumulated and deposited in neat adjacent piles on ground locally cleared of trash, ready for mechanical loading on to cane transport.